Ferrari 550 Maranello

First Place: Rapid Transit

Recent News

We have been among those who have roundly praised the 550 Maranello as a GT car of supreme performance that is also easy to run and to own, assuming you have the necessary $222,434. But even its best friends would not describe it as the most beautiful Ferrari. The stylists at Pininfarina seemed to lose their sure touch with this derivative design; some initially compared it with a Toyota Supra.

But the 550 Maranello looks lithe and athletic alongside the bulky, aggressive Vanquish. Its interior is more delicately furnished, in this case in rich crimson leather contrasting with the gunmetal exterior. This car, from Ferrari U.K., was fitted with optional "Daytona" seats with ribs and perforations like those of the classic 1970s Ferrari of the same name. These are bucket seats in the original sense of the term, deeply curved and with a superbly comfortable, if tight, fit.

The instruments and the controls are traditional — clearly legible white-on-black dials hooded in black leather binnacles, with a row of toggle switches and simple knobs for climate control. There is not much ornamentation, and Ferrari doesn't see the need to install name tags all over the cockpit, as does Aston Martin. The yellow enamel badge with the black prancing horse at the center of the thin leather-rimmed wheel says quite enough, but lest we forget what makes Ferrari special, there is a little plaque celebrating "Campioni del Mondo 2000," a reference to Ferrari's winning the Formula 1 Grand Prix title last year.

The other distinctive feature of this and every other manual-transmission Ferrari is the signature metal "gate" that guides the shift lever into its six gears. The shifting effort is not as high as in some previous models, but the clutch pedal still needs plenty of effort and has a long travel. Many more modest cars have better and faster shifters, and the Aston's thoroughly modern robotized system further emphasizes the point.

On the other hand, or rather in both hands, the 550's speed-sensitive power steering is relatively light. That can be disconcerting at first, but as Webster noted, "It's light but not sloppy, and the car holds its path beautifully. So why would we need higher effort?"

Overall, we judged the 550's handling better than the Aston's, but not by much. Given that it has its gearbox at the rear, you might expect a more even front-to-rear weight balance, but our readings on the scales showed them to be nearly the same. What the Ferrari does have is a sophisticated adaptive damping system that automatically adjusts the shocks at each wheel to one of 12 different rates. Switch on the sport setting, and the rates begin on a firmer note. And the threshold is raised for the traction-control system. The result is a harder ride than the Aston's, even with the suspension set in normal mode when there is more body roll. And with sport selected, the 550 is more eager to spin its wheels and wag its tail, although on dry roads this occurs only by extreme provocation. Like the Aston, the Ferrari has massive four-piston brakes, but unlike the Vanquish, it is not much deflected by bumps during a heavy stop.

As so often before, we find ourselves reserving most of our praise for the Ferrari's engine. The 550's 5.5-liter V-12 may have a more illustrious background than the Aston's 5.9-liter powerplant — although it is made at Cosworth, it did begin life as a doubled-up Ford Taurus V-6 — but the reason we like the Ferrari 12 so much is its sheer range of abilities. This is an engine that revs almost to 8000 rpm but can pull smoothly in city traffic in sixth gear. It's a gem of a motor, although some might wish it had been given a more generous voice.

An interesting change has occurred. Not long ago, buying a Ferrari was an emotional choice, made despite dodgy build quality, quirks in operation, and fears of mechanical bugaboos and periodic breakdowns. In this comparison test, the impeccably made and finished 550 is the reliable establishment, and it is the Aston Martin that holds the uncertainties. Perhaps that is why, without reference to the individual scores, we agreed on the critical issue. Given a quarter-million bucks, we would buy the Ferrari.